Bongbong's Piaya & Pendy's Napoleones

year-round

Two separate Lacson Street stops, one sugar run: Bongbong's piaya is a flat unleavened bread stuffed with dark muscovado — unrefined sugarcane sugar from Negros — and toasted on a griddle for over 30 years; the sesame-seed version runs deeper and less sweet than the plain. Pendy's napoleones are playing-card-sized flaky puff pastry filled with sweet custard cream and glazed with powdered sugar at ₱15 a piece, the kind locals take home by the box. Local's tip: piaya is best eaten warm off the griddle — ask Bongbong's to heat one fresh, and skip the Merzci chain; the muscovado filling here is more molasses than sugar.

Source: puredetour.com